KUALA LUMPUR – It is not about going against DAP due to the Alor Gajah-Jerai seat swap, but to ensure that the Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition wins the 15th general election (GE15), said newly sacked Kedah Amanah chief Datuk Phahrolrazi Mohd Zawawi.
In a press conference in Kedah today, he said the time is still not right for DAP to stand in a Malay-majority seat as it would only give ammunition to PAS and Umno to attack PH and Amanah.
“I want PH to win the general election, so that Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim will be appointed as the new prime minister,” he was quoted as saying by the New Straits Times.
“It will make the job easy for PAS and Umno to attack Amanah, saying that PH has failed to protect the interests of the Malay community,” he told reporters at the Jerai Amanah office in Guar Chempedak.
He added that the decision to field a DAP candidate in Jerai will adversely affect other Amanah candidates in Kedah.
“Unlike in other states or urban seats, between 70% and 80% of the Malays in Kedah still have this negative sentiment against DAP, and Amanah only managed to win 15% of the Malay votes.
“In the Malay majority seats like in Kedah, we are depending heavily on the Malay voters for support so we need more time before we can field DAP candidates in the Malay-majority seats.”
He added that there is still time to revert the seat-swapping to benefit PH.
Phahrolrazi was sacked from the party today for violations against Amanah’s constitution.
Meanwhile, DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke said the party’s decision to name a candidate for the Jerai parliamentary seat was agreed upon by the PH presidential council.
He said the move should not have created an issue among component parties as seat negotiations, especially for those in Bersatu’s hands, had been completed previously and Amanah agreed to contest in Alor Gajah, while DAP chose Jerai.
PH announced yesterday that Kedah DAP vice-chairman Zulhazmi Shariff would contest in Jerai, the only parliamentary seat contested by the party in the state.
Yesterday, The Vibes reported that Phahrolrazi instructed all state party leaders and members not to attend the programme scheduled to take place in Merbok, Kedah as a retaliatory move against giving up the Jerai parliamentary seat to DAP.
In return, the Alor Gajah federal constituency, which has been traditionally contested by DAP prior to the 2018 general election, is now set to be given to Amanah.
Former Melaka chief minister and state PH chairman Adly Zahari is to contest in the seat, which is currently held by Bersatu’s Datuk Seri Mohd Redzuan Md Yusof.
This supposed arrangement between DAP and Amanah is said to have infuriated members of PKR’s Alor Gajah division, who have been conducting groundwork and campaigning for the seat in recent years.
The division is particularly dissatisfied with PKR’s top leadership’s decision to not make any attempt in negotiating for the constituency. – The Vibes, October 30, 2022
